"nearby city of Ebla, c. 1800 BC. Ugarit passed into the sphere of influence of Egypt, which deeply influenced its art. On the Mediterranean coast of modern-day Israel, Palestine and Lebanon, Canaanite peoples became wealth through trade inspiring Phoenicians. Phoenicia was an ancient civilization centered in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal regions of modern-day Lebanon, Syria and Israel. Phoenician civilization was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean between the period of 1550 to 300 BC. One of Phoenician colony – Carthage became a powerful nation in its own right. Carthage"
"why the term ""Levant"" has come to be used more specifically to refer to modern Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, and Cyprus. Some scholars misunderstood the term thinking that it derives from the name of Lebanon. Today the term is often used in conjunction with prehistoric or ancient historical references. It has the same meaning as ""Syria-Palestine"" or ""Ash-Shaam"" (, ), the area that is bounded by the Taurus Mountains of Turkey in the North, the Mediterranean Sea in the west, and the north Arabian Desert and Mesopotamia in the east. Typically, it does not include Anatolia (also called Asia"
"Syria (region) The region of Syria (, Hieroglyphic Luwian: ""Sura/i""; ; in modern literature called ""Greater Syria"", ""Syria-Palestine"", or the Levant) is an area located east of the Mediterranean sea. Throughout history, the region has been controlled by numerous different peoples, including ancient Egyptians, Canaanites, Assyria, Babylonia, the Achaemenid Empire, the ancient Greeks, the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Umayyad Caliphate, the Abbasid Caliphate, the Fatimid Caliphate, the Crusaders, the Ayyubid dynasty, the Mamluk Sultanate, the Ottoman Empire, the United Kingdom and the French Third Republic. In the most common historical sense, 'Syria' refers to the entire northern Levant,"
"as the Syrian region, gave the boundaries of the region as such: the Mediterranean Sea to the west, the Arabian Desert and Mesopotamia to the east, and the Taurus Mountains of Anatolia to the north. For Pliny the Elder and Pomponius Mela, Syria covered the entire Fertile Crescent. In Late Antiquity, ""Syria"" meant a region located to the East of the Mediterranean Sea, West of the Euphrates River, North of the Arabian Desert and South of the Taurus Mountains, thereby including modern Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, the State of Palestine, and parts of Southern Turkey, namely the Hatay Province and"
"attributed to the region's easterly location on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. The ancient Egyptians called the Levant ""Reṯenu"". Ancient Egyptian texts (c. 14th century BCE) called the entire coastal area along the Mediterranean Sea between modern Egypt and Turkey ""rṯnw"" (conventionally ""Reṯenu""). Reṯenu was subdivided into four regions: ""Kharu"" (""ḥꜣ-rw""), North Syria, ""Amurru"", South Syria (the land of the biblical Amorites), ""Rmnn"", Lebanon, ""Ysriar"" (""ysrỉꜣr""), Israel, and ""Ḏahy"" (""ḏꜣhy"";""Ṯahi"", ""Ḏahi""), the region of Palestine (comprising the southern and central Levant—west of the Jordan River and south of Lebanon—and all the kingdoms, territories, tribes, etc., that existed within that"
"coined during Ottoman rule, after 1516, to designate the approximate area included in present-day Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Palestine. The uncertainty in the definition of the extent of ""Syria"" is aggravated with the etymological confusion of the similar-sounding names Syria and Assyria. The question of the ultimate etymological identity of the two names remains open today, but regardless of etymology, the two names have often been taken as exchangeable or synonymous from the time of Herodotus. In the Roman Empire Syria and Assyria already referred to two separate entities, Roman Syria and Roman Assyria. Killebrew and Steiner, treating the Levant"
"was coined during Ottoman rule, after 1516, to designate the approximate area included in present-day Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Palestine. Greater Syria Greater Syria (), also ""Natural Syria"" () or ""Northern Country"" , is a Levantine region which extends roughly over the medieval Arab Caliphate province of Bilad al-Sham. The Hellenistic name of the region, ""Syria"", was used by the Ottomans in the Syria Vilayet until the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1918. The wave of Arab nationalism in the region evolved towards the creation of a new ""Great Syria"" over French-governed Occupied Enemy Territory Administration, declared as Hashemite"
"see Matthew 4:24 at BibleGateway.com The Roman province of Syria covered a huge area. American Theologian Albert Barnes interprets ""Syria"" as ""the general name for the country lying between the Euphrates on the east, and the Mediterranean on the west; and between Mount Taurus on the north, and Arabia on the south. English biblical scholar R. T. France suggests that the author of Matthew's gospel was likely to have been using the Old Testament meaning, which limited it to the area immediately to the north and northeast of Israel. Eduard Schweizer notes that one late manuscript has ""synoria"", region, in"
"Empire, as were the names Eber-Nari and Aramea. This area and other parts of the former Assyrian Empire to the east (including Assyria itself) were renamed Syria (Seleucid Syria), a 9th-century BC Hurrian, Luwian and Greek corruption of Assyria (see Etymology of Syria and Name of Syria), which had for centuries until this point referred specifically to the land of Assyria and the Assyrians, which in modern terms actually covered the northern half of Iraq, north east Syria, south east Turkey and the north western fringes of Iran, and not the bulk of ""modern Syria"" and Lebanon and its largely"
"the name Cœle (or Hollow Syria) was applied to the whole of the southern portion of Syria, but under the Romans, it was confined to ""Cœlesyria Proper"" and variously included the district east of Anti-Libanus, about Damascus, and a portion of Palestine east of the Jordan river (possibly of: Trans-Jordan, Perea, or the Decapolis). The name Syria comes from the ancient Greek regional name for the Levantine colonies and colonial territories which they had established and which were ""formerly comprehended as part of Assyria"" (see Name of Syria). Syria had an uncertain border to the northeast that Pliny the Elder"
"Gouraud, in breach of the conditions of the mandate, subdivided the French Mandate of Syria into six states. They were the states of Damascus (1920), Aleppo (1920), Alawite State (1920), Jabal Druze (1921), the autonomous Sanjak of Alexandretta (1921) (modern-day Hatay in Turkey), and Greater Lebanon (1920) which later became the modern country of Lebanon. The region has sites that are significant to Abrahamic religions: Syria (region) The region of Syria (, Hieroglyphic Luwian: ""Sura/i""; ; in modern literature called ""Greater Syria"", ""Syria-Palestine"", or the Levant) is an area located east of the Mediterranean sea. Throughout history, the region has"
"archaeological record and its practitioners are best described as prehistorians. The name Levant (or Syria-Palestine) is used to refer to the area adjacent to the east coast of the Mediterranean. The southern region included in this term encompasses Israel, the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and part of Jordan. Palestine was its ancient Roman and Byzantine name and was also in use during the Crusades (1095–1291), the period of Ottoman rule (1517-1917) and the British Mandate (1918–1948). The same region is also called the Holy Land, the Land of Israel, and Canaan because of biblical associations. The foregoing names can be"
"this term was also applied to The Levant, and from this point the Greeks applied the term without distinction between the Assyrians of Mesopotamia and Arameans of the Levant. Mainstream modern academic opinion strongly favours the argument that the Greek word is related to the cognate , ', ultimately derived from the Akkadian '. The Greek name appears to correspond to Phoenician ' ""Assur"", ' ""Assyrians"", recorded in the 8th century BC Çineköy inscription. The area designated by the word has changed over time. Classically, Syria lies at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, between Arabia to the south and"
"called ""Syrians"" by the Greeks were called ""Assyrians"" by themselves and in the East. In the Roman Empire, Syria and Assyria came to be used as distinct geographical terms. ""Syria"" in the Roman Empire period referred to those parts of the Empire situated between Asia Minor and Egypt, i.e. the western Levant, while ""Assyria"" in northern Iraq, southeast Turkey and northeast Syria was part of the Persian Empire as Athura, and only very briefly came under Roman control (116–118 AD, marking the historical peak of Roman expansion), where it was known as Assyria Provincia. Name of Syria The name Syria"
"Southern Syria, Southern Levant and Syria Palaestina. The areas claimed by the State of Palestine lie in the Levant. The Gaza Strip borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Egypt to the south, and Israel to the north and east. The West Bank is bordered by Jordan to the east, and Israel to the north, south, and west. Thus, the two enclaves constituting the area claimed by State of Palestine have no geographical border with one another, being separated by Israel. These areas would constitute the world's 163rd largest country by land area. In 1947, the UN adopted a partition"
"Palestine (region) Palestine ( , , ; , ""Palaistinē""; ; ""Palestina"") is a geographic region in Western Asia usually considered to include Israel, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and in some definitions, some parts of western Jordan. The name was used by ancient Greek writers, and it was later used for the Roman province Syria Palaestina, the Byzantine Palaestina Prima, and the Islamic provincial district of Jund Filastin. The region comprises most of the territory claimed for the biblical regions known as the Land of Israel ( ""Eretz-Yisra'el""), the Holy Land or Promised Land. Historically, it has been known"
"Coele-Syria Coele-Syria, Coele Syria, Coelesyria (, ""Koílē Syría""), also rendered as Coelosyria and Celesyria, otherwise Hollow Syria (, ), was a region of Syria in classical antiquity. It probably derived from the Aramaic for ""all"" of the region of Syria but more often was applied to the Beqaa Valley between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon mountain ranges. The area now forms part of the modern nations of Lebanon and Syria. It is widely accepted that the term Coele is a transcription of Aramaic ""kul"", meaning ""all, the entire"", such that the term originally identified ""all"" of Syria. The word ""Coele"", which"
"Some other terms that have been used to refer to all or part of this land include Canaan, Land of Israel (Eretz Yisrael or Ha'aretz), the Promised Land, Greater Syria, the Holy Land, Iudaea Province, Judea, Coele-Syria, ""Israel HaShlema"", Kingdom of Israel, Kingdom of Jerusalem, Zion, ""Retenu"" (Ancient Egyptian), Southern Syria, Southern Levant and Syria Palaestina. Situated at a strategic location between Egypt, Syria and Arabia, and the birthplace of Judaism and Christianity, the region has a long and tumultuous history as a crossroads for religion, culture, commerce, and politics. The region has been controlled by numerous peoples, including Ancient"
"of Syria, is called ' ( / ""land of the Levant""). Historically, Baalshamin or Ba'al Šamem (), was a Semitic sky-god in Canaan/Phoenicia and ancient Palmyra. Hence, Sham refers to (""heaven"" or ""sky""). Damascus was built in a strategic site on a plateau above sea level and about inland from the Mediterranean, sheltered by the Anti-Lebanon mountains, supplied with water by the Barada River, and at a crossroads between trade routes: the north-south route connecting Egypt with Asia Minor, and the east-west cross-desert route connecting Lebanon with the Euphrates river valley. The Anti-Lebanon mountains mark the border between Syria and"
"More usually, these regions are included in greater Syria, a name used to refer to the whole area between Anatolia, Mesopotamia and Arabia. The Mediterranean coast of Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic and parts of Northern Israel are also known as Phoenicia, after the ancient kingdom. However, this term suffers from the same problems as Canaan and equivalents and so is generally now only used in a strict historical sense. The landmass of Anatolia, most of modern Turkey, is bordered by several seas and includes parts of Northern Mesopotamia. The Tigris and Euphrates rise in Turkey and flow south into"
"Syria Syria ( ), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( """"), is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest. A country of fertile plains, high mountains, and deserts, Syria is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups, including Syrian Arabs, Greeks, Armenians, Assyrians, Kurds, Circassians, Mandeans and Turks. Religious groups include Sunnis, Christians, Alawites, Druze, Isma'ilis, Mandeans, Shiites, Salafis, Yazidis, and Jews. Sunni make up the largest religious group in Syria. Syria is a unitary republic"
"Greater Lebanon, various Syrian-mandate states, Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan. The Syrian-mandate states were gradually unified as the State of Syria and finally became the independent Syria in 1946. Throughout this period, pan-Syrian nationalists advocated for the creation of a Greater Syria. Antoun Saadeh and his party, the Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party, envisioned ""Greater Syria"" or ""Natural Syria"" as encompassing the Sinai Peninsula, Cyprus, modern Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, the Ahvaz region of Iran, and the Kilikian region of Turkey. The oldest attestation of the name 'Syria' is from the 8th century BC in a bilingual"
"in the Syrian Civil War from 2011 the conflict shifted from proxy warfare into direct confrontation by early 2018. Israel is located in the Levant area of the Fertile Crescent region. The country is at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, bounded by Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan and the West Bank to the east, and Egypt and the Gaza Strip to the southwest. It lies between latitudes 29° and 34° N, and longitudes 34° and 36° E. The sovereign territory of Israel (according to the demarcation lines of the 1949 Armistice Agreements and excluding"
"His book was very popular, and it provided ""the most complete available summary of biblical geography and described the geography of the Holy Land by tracing the travels of major figures from the Old and New testaments."" As a geographic term, the description ""Holy Land"" loosely encompasses modern-day Israel, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, western Jordan and south-western Syria. In the Qur'an, the term (, ) is used in a passage about Musa (Moses) proclaiming to the Children of Israel: ""O my people! Enter the holy land which Allah hath assigned unto you, and turn not back ignominiously, for then will"
"as the southern portion of wider regional designations such as Canaan, Syria, ash-Sham, and the Levant. Situated at a strategic location between Egypt, Syria and Arabia, and the birthplace of Judaism and Christianity, the region has a long and tumultuous history as a crossroads for religion, culture, commerce, and politics. The region has been controlled by numerous peoples, including Ancient Egyptians, Canaanites, Israelites and Judeans, Assyrians, Babylonians, Achaemenids, ancient Greeks, the Jewish Hasmonean Kingdom, Romans, Parthians, Sasanians, Byzantines, the Arab Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid and Fatimid caliphates, Crusaders, Ayyubids, Mamluks, Mongols, Ottomans, the British, and modern Israelis, Jordanians, Egyptians and Palestinians."
"the term ""Palestine"" or related terms to the area at the southeast corner of the Mediterranean Sea beside Syria has historically been taking place since the times of Ancient Greece, with Herodotus writing of a ""district of Syria, called Palaistine"" in which Phoenicians interacted with other maritime peoples in ""The Histories"". Some other terms that have been used to refer to all or part of the geographical region of ""Palestine"" include Canaan, Land of Israel (Eretz Yisrael or Ha'aretz), Greater Syria, the Holy Land, Iudaea Province, Judea, Coele-Syria, ""Israel HaShlema"", Kingdom of Israel, Kingdom of Jerusalem, Zion, ""Retenu"" (Ancient Egyptian),"
"Name of Syria The name Syria is latinized from the (Greek ). Herodotus used it loosely to refer to Cappadocia. In Greek usage, ""Suría"" and ""Assuría"" were used almost interchangeably, but in the Roman Empire, Syria and Assyria came to be used as distinct geographical terms. ""Syria"" in the Roman Empire period referred to the region of Syria (the western Levant, ""those parts of the Empire situated between Asia Minor and Egypt""), while Asōristān was part of the Sasanian Empire and only very briefly came under Roman control (AD 116–118, marking the historical peak of Roman expansion). Etymologically, the name"
"not in relation to ""modern Syria"", but as an Indo-European corruption of ""Assyria"", which in fact encompassed the modern regions of northern Iraq, north east Syria, south east Turkey and the northwestern fringe of Iran. (see Etymology of Syria) After this empire finally collapsed, Mesopotamian dominance continued for a time with the short lived Neo-Babylonian Empire (612-539 BCE), which ruled the region for 70 or so years. In 539 BCE, Cyrus the Great, King of Achaemenid Persians, took Syria as part of his empire. Due to Syria's location on the Eastern Mediterranean coast, its navy fleet, and abundant forests; Persians"
"Southern Levant The Southern Levant is a geographical region encompassing the southern half of the Levant. It corresponds approximately to modern-day Israel, Palestine, and Jordan; some definitions also include southern Lebanon, southern Syria and/or the Sinai Peninsula. As a strictly geographical description, it is sometimes used by archaeologists and historians to avoid the religious and political connotations of other names for the area. Like much of Southwestern Asia, the Southern Levant is an arid region consisting mostly of desert and dry steppe, with a thin strip of wetter, temperate climate along the Mediterranean coast. Geographically it is dominated by the"
"Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian territories, Syria, and Turkey"". As of 1997, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations defined the region similarly, but also included Afghanistan. At the beginning of the 19th century the Ottoman Empire included all of the Balkan Peninsula south to the southern edge of the Hungarian Plain, but by 1914 had lost all of it except Constantinople and Eastern Thrace to the rise of Balkan nationalism, which saw the independence of Greece, Serbia, the Danubian Principalities and Bulgaria. Up until 1912, the Ottomans retained a band of territory including"
"of Syria, which included modern-day Lebanon and Syria west of the Euphrates, framing the province as a regional social category with civic implications. Plutarch described the indigenous people of this newly created Roman province as ""Syrians"", so did Strabo, who observed that Syrians resided west of the Euphrates in Roman Syria, and he explicitly mentions that those Syrians are the Arameans, whom he calls Aramaei, indicating an extant ethnicity. Posidonius noted that the people called Syrians by the Greeks refer to themselves as Arameans. In his book ""The Great Roman-Jewish War"", Josephus, a Hebrew native to the Levant, mentioned the"
"Asia Minor to the north, stretching inland to include parts of Iraq, and having an uncertain border to the northeast that Pliny the Elder describes as including, from west to east, Commagene, Sophene, and Adiabene. By Pliny's time, however, this larger Syria had been divided into a number of provinces under the Roman Empire (but politically independent from each other): Judaea, later renamed Palaestina in AD 135 (the region corresponding to modern-day Israel, the Palestinian Territories, and Jordan) in the extreme southwest; Phoenice (established in 194 AD) corresponding to modern Lebanon, Damascus and Homs regions; Coele-Syria (or ""Hollow Syria"") south"
"of these works has been the southern Levant, an area formerly identified as Syria-Palestine including Canaan"", but with most modern Ph.D. dissertations using the terms ‘Israel’ and ‘Canaan’. The term Southern Levant has also been criticized as imprecise and an awkward name. The term Southern Levant has been described in academic discourse as a ""at least a strictly geographical"" description of the region, avoiding religious and political connotations of names such as ""Canaan"", ""Holy Land"", ""Land of Israel"", or ""Palestine"". The Southern Levant lies on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, in the world region known variously as the"